Apple’s iPad has only been on sale for a few days in the USA, but already the oversized iPhone has been flying off the shelves.

Apple has reported that more than 300,000 iPads were sold in the first 24 hours and since then many thousands more have been picked up.

There had been fears that the iPad would not be as big a seller as the iPhone, but the initial pre-orders and launch day sales from Apple’s premiere retail outlets have shown that there is still plenty of love out there amongst gadget-lovers and consumers for Steve Jobs and company.

Apple has also said that there have been over one million iPad apps downloaded since the weekend, which shows that the hunger for touch-friendly software is all but insatiable.

In the weeks running up to the iPad’s launch, some critics had claimed that the high cost of iPad apps compared to their iPhone equivalents would put off potential customers. Virtually identical apps were being given a 100 per cent price hike on the iPad, but it seems that this has not deterred the early adopters.

Initial sales from the iBooks store have also been strong and a quarter of a million eBooks have been downloaded since the iPad went on sale. This suggests that the iPad could easily edge out rival standalone eBook readers, such as Amazon’s Kindle, which has recently enjoyed a technical upgrade.

In the eyes of many, Apple can do no wrong and the initial response to the iPad has been generally positive. But there are a wide range of alternative tablet PCs in development offering consumers a broader choice in the longer term.